How do I change an icon?

I've tried command c command v with a variety of image formats. (iConvert: Convert ico, icns, and png icons online for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux)

The images are 128 x 128. The trouble is that they show up as a "preview" icon. That is, it's the icon that indicates that it will be opened in the mac preview app.

What is the problem?

*also, it's an external usb so I want the icon to change both in mac and PC. Havent' tested in on pc yet but I have an autorun.ico and an autorun.inf in it. I'm supposed to place them in the root folder but there doesn't seem to be one labelled as such.

If you have icons you want to use in place of the MacOS standard ones, follow these steps:
1. choose the icon that you wish to use, and copy it (like you've said .. Cmd-C)
2. select the file/folder/application - whatever - whose icon you wish to change.
3. Get Info - either by R-clicking or use File from the top menu bar
4. click on the icon in the top left of the Get Info window
5. Cmd-V to paste.

The only variation might be to Step 1, where you need to Get Info > Click > Copy the alternative icon you wish to use.

To change the default Preview icon, Get Info and choose Open With. What you choose is dependent on what you have in your Applications folder.

To add to hughvane's reply, it's always fun and so easy to make your own icons on a Mac. Just bring up any image in Preview. Select All, or use Left Click/Drag to select to part you want as your icon. Copy. Then Paste that in like hugevane says. Neat!

- -; did I give the impression that I didn't know how to change an icon...after commenting about cmd c and cmd v =(.

The problem I think...is with the file format. It is only showing up as an unreadable image icon. Open something in preview, see the icon in the dock that represent "preview". That's what I'm getting.

I checked out the second replies technique though, it works fine, on certain things..

The thing I'm trying to change the icon to is a 4gb fat - 32 formatted usb. The image shows up fine on mac formatted drives but is a broken image on this. Is this the problem? Any way around it?

EDIT: I think the problem is with my autorun.ico and autorun.inf to change the icon in windows. If I change the icon in OS x, does it show up in windows properly?

I paid an extended visit to the link you provided - excellent! I checked the Mac option and then proceeded to download several icons. I then went through the process of select > copy > paste and it all worked tickety-boo.

So, r u trying to change the USB drive icon? As long as it's cross-platform compatible, there shouldn't be a problem. Simply select the drive icon and follow the steps in #2.

I can't comment knowledgeably on the Win side of things as you suggest. However, my gut feeling is that you're going to need to download separate icons. I don't think Mac icons will work in Win - and vice versa.

I'm pretty sure it's with the icon compatibility. the image boots fine in windows, in order to start displaying images in mac, I need to delete the autorun.inf.

Currently looking for a cross compatible method. The images themselves seem to have a specified format, so that might be trouble.